


Right Here

by Multiple_Universes



Category: Yuri!!! on Ice (Anime)
Genre: Fluff, M/M, Post-Canon, Road Trips, Short One Shot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-02
Updated: 2019-05-02
Packaged: 2020-02-15 19:54:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,230
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18676363
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Multiple_Universes/pseuds/Multiple_Universes
Summary: Yuuri and Victor get a few days all to themselves and Victor decides to plan the perfect little vacation, but - as always - things don't go according to plan.





	Right Here

**Author's Note:**

> Today we get to post the pieces we wrote for the Okaeri Charity Zine the theme of which was home, whether the concept be a place, a person or a feeling. Here is the piece I wrote for that zine!
> 
> (More info about the zine can be found [on their tumblr](https://yoihomezine.tumblr.com/))

“Let me take care of it,” Victor had said and Yuuri didn’t argue.

How could he possibly argue when he’d seen the way Victor’s eyes lit up? So Yuuri Katsuki, Japan’s ace and one of the top figure skaters in the world, let his fiancé Victor Nikiforov decide where they would go for their short holiday break.

They decided to take three days off for New Year’s. There were competitions coming up for both of them, of course, but they both agreed that they needed a short break.

Yuuri wanted to go back home to Hasetsu, but Japan was so far away that a three day break wasn’t enough – they’d spend most of that time getting there. So he suggested they just stay in their apartment.

Victor just smiled and acted like someone who had a brilliant idea in mind, a brilliant idea he refused to share.

The day before he asked Yuuri to pack everything he would need for a three day trip, still saying nothing about where they were going. He refused to say anymore on the subject even when the morning of the first day finally came.

Yuuri didn’t worry. He trusted Victor to make a good choice and had no doubt that the trip would live up to his expectations, so he packed a little suitcase and waited for more instructions.

That morning, after they both had breakfast, Victor led Yuuri to where a car stood, waiting for them. “I rented it for a few days,” Victor told Yuuri. “What do you say? Will Yuuri Katsuki let Victor Nikiforov take him away for three days?”

Yuuri couldn’t help the laugh that escaped his lips. “You’re making it sound like we’re about to elope! Are you about to kidnap me, Victor Nikiforov?”

“Maybe I am,” Victor said with a big smile.

They filled the car with merry laughter as they strapped themselves in and Victor started the engine.

St. Petersburg is a beautiful city with over three centuries of history. It was built on a marsh and was a little miracle. Unfortunately, after someone lived in St. Petersburg long enough, they began to learn that many of St. Petersburg’s wonderful qualities were really not that wonderful after all and bridges are delightful and beautiful until you need to cross them and find them full of cars or worse – raised.

It began to snow just as they reached one such bridge and traffic trapped them in place. Long lines of cars stretched out as far as the eye could see, but Yuuri relaxed in his seat. He was in no great hurry to get anywhere. It could all wait.

Victor turned the radio on and they listened to a long stream of singers proclaim their undying love.

Every once in a while Yuuri would ask what this or that word meant and then did his best to commit the answer to memory.

“Why waste valuable time, hmm?” Victor asked in Russian and Yuuri felt a blush rise to his cheeks.

It hadn’t been easy: adjusting to life in Russia and learning the language, but Yuuri worked away at it, refusing to give up.

He put his hand on Victor’s shoulder, copying what the skater often did to him. The radio sang away, but it was the only sound in the car now.

Victor was the first person Yuuri had ever met who he could sit quietly with like this. There was no shortage of chatty people in his life, people who could talk the hours away, not bothered by Yuuri’s limited responses, but Victor was the first person who seemed to understand that there were times when words weren’t needed. He was also the first person who understood Yuuri without any words.

On a whim, Yuuri reached out and turned the radio off.

Victor said nothing to this.

Slowly the big queue of cars dispersed and they found themselves out on the open road.

Yuuri realized he was humming something and smiled, not stopping what he was doing. Victor joined in just as Yuuri recognized the song he was humming.

_Stammi vicino_ – the song that had become theirs.

Another sound joined it, but there was something wrong about it. It didn’t match the humming, but it did seem to match the strange movements the car was suddenly making.

“What is that?” Yuuri exclaimed, startled out of his daydream of their skate together.

Victor pulled over and got out of the car. Yuuri followed him out as worry piled up in his stomach.

They found the culprit at the back of the car.

“Flat tire,” Victor said, giving it a look of disapproval.

“Now what?” Yuuri asked. The warm feeling he’d had that morning had completely evaporated only to be replaced by something cold and sharp. He could feel the fear rising slowly inside him.

Victor sighed and then gave Yuuri a big smile. “That’s ok! I have a spare! We just need to swap it out.” He looked at the tire. “Or someone does.”

Victor found a place nearby and they drove the car there as carefully as they could.

Yuuri fidgeted the whole ride there. How long would it take? What if the place was there? What if…

Swapping the tire barely took 30 minutes and then they were on their way once more. But the carefree feeling was gone. They were both a little on edge now.

_What next?_ Yuuri wondered anxiously and watched the way Victor hunched his shoulders. He’d been so relaxed before. Now even he was beginning to show signs of worry.

The monotony of the road remained unbroken. It was lined on both sides with a forest without end.

“Let’s stop for lunch,” Victor offered after some time and Yuuri agreed.

Wherever they were going was obviously still a few hours away.

Victor took the next exit and drove into a town, looking for some kind of café or restaurant. It was a very small town with a few houses and a church. There was something about the whole village that made it look abandoned. The only café they could find had stale old pastries in the glass counter and the lady who worked there looked at them like someone who hadn’t seen people in a long time.

She bustled around and promised them a borsht with slices of bread.

Yuuri took a seat at the table by the window and waited for Victor to join him.

There was an apologetic look on Victor’s face. “I should’ve looked up where to stop on the way.”

“That’s alright,” Yuuri assured him.

He stared out the window again at the little wooden church. It was barely taller than the other houses of the village, but would disappear occasionally behind the trees.

“Your food,” the lady said and Yuuri turned to thank her for the borsht.

It was warm and delicious. After a few spoons of the soup Victor’s mood improved and he talked about little towns in Russia. He told Yuuri a long story about getting lost in one and Yuuri nodded along, laughing at all the little jokes.

Yuuri finished eating first and went to see if he could order some dessert. He questioned the seller about the different options, before returning with two cups of tea and two slices of cake that looked less stale than everything else.

The snow stopped falling and the sun came out. For a while their bad luck seemed to run out.

_It was all nothing,_ Yuuri told himself. _Things go wrong all the time._

He could see it was bothering Victor, but as time went by even Victor seemed to accept it all as an unhappy coincidence.

Another two hours of driving later and Victor turned off onto a small road. It was full of potholes, shaking their car and slowing them down. After a few more turns the GPS told them happily that they’re arrived.

Yuuri stared out at the forest on both sides of them. It was dark outside and snow was falling again.

Victor kept driving.

Yuuri risked a quick glance at him and saw the way his jaw was clenched.

“Maybe we should find someone to ask for directions,” Yuuri suggested.

“Who can we ask out here? A squirrel?”

Victor was really angry now. Whatever he had planned didn’t go well. He didn’t usually snap at Yuuri, which only meant one thing – he was starting to panic.

Yuuri tried not to think about getting stuck overnight in the middle of the woods. “If we drive a little more, maybe we’ll find a town or at least a house where someone lives.”

Victor was silent for a while. “Yes,” he finally said. His hands were squeezing the wheel tightly and he kept biting his lip like someone doing their best to suppress an angry outburst.

Yuuri reached out and put a hand on his shoulder.

The road stretched out forever and the snow fell harder with every second.

Finally the headlights illuminated a sign, but Yuuri couldn’t make any sense of it. And, yet, the sight of it cheered Victor up, which was enough to put Yuuri at ease once more.

After two turns they reached a closed gate. Victor stopped the car and got out to rush to a nearby house. Yuuri stayed behind.

Snow continued to pile on top of the car. It was really quiet, but at least the heater was still running.

He continued to wait. Minutes trickled away one after another until it began to feel as though he’d been there for all eternity, waiting for Victor.

The wood around him was dark with no sign that anyone had ever laid foot here. There were probably animals in this wood. Yuuri’s imagination painted him pictures of wild bears and wolves, all of them hungry and cold.

What was that dark shape over there? Was it something creeping through the bushes? Was it…

It was Victor.

He returned to the car with a frown on his face, but as soon as his eye fell on Yuuri he smiled.

“Sorry for making you wait,” he said. “I had to kick up a big fuss to get someone to come out and talk to me. I think they fell asleep. We should –”

The gate started to open and he climbed back into the driver’s seat, getting ready to drive. There was more forest beyond the gate and a badly lit road.

Yuuri peered into the darkness. He could just make out the faint silhouettes of houses between the trees. Some had lights in their windows.

Victor drove into a parking lot. To their great relief, it was well-lit and they had no trouble getting all their stuff out.

Yuuri took Victor’s hand and together they headed for one of the houses in the dark.

It was hard to figure out the number of the house and where the door was, using only the flashlights in their cellphones. For some reason there were no lights around the house itself.

They bumped into each other a few times and Yuuri tripped over a step before Victor caught him.

Finally they got the key in the lock and opened the door.

“Did you…” Yuuri began.

Victor flicked a light switch and filled the room with a dull light. There was barely any furniture inside – a bed, a TV and a table, but they had their own kitchen and bathroom.

“I packed some food,” Victor said, raising one of the bags in his hand, “and I brought some cutlery and dishes in case they don’t have anything.”

Yuuri hugged Victor from the back. “Did you kidnap me to take to a house in the middle of the forest?” he asked.

Victor lowered his head. “Yeah… But I have the ingredients for a perfect dinner and I’m ready to cook them all for you,” he promised in a serious tone of voice.

Yuuri released him. “Is it just me, or is it really cold in here?”

“There should be a heater somewhere,” Victor said absently.

Yuuri left him to take care of dinner and tried to sort out heating for their house.

The place was old and the heater stubbornly refused to yield to Yuuri’s best efforts. After a while he gave up and decided to brew hot tea instead, hoping that would make up for it somehow. At least there was hot water for a bath later.

As the house filled with the delicious smell of dinner Yuuri set the table for the two of them.

Victor remained in low spirits. Cooking didn’t cheer him up and neither did eating. He had a cake prepared for dessert, but the look he gave it was so miserable that Yuuri started to worry.

“What’s wrong?” he finally asked.

“I’m sorry,” Victor said, dropping down on the bed and turning away. “I thought it would be romantic for us to stay alone in a house together. I imagined a cute log cabin in the woods, not something like this. I thought…” he sighed. “You were right. We should’ve stayed home and just relaxed for a few days.”

So that was it. Yuuri sat down next to Victor and took both of his arms. “It doesn’t matter to me where we are as long as we’re together,” he said, wrapping Victor’s arms around himself. “My home is right here.”


End file.
